Piano keyboard and soft pedal action



Sept. 20, 1949. A. H. HOWE PIANO KEYBOARD AND SOFT PEDAL ACTION FiledOct 27, 1945 In 0 anion Patented Sept. 20, 1949 7 UNITED STATESPATENToFncE PIANO KEYBOARD AND SOFT PEDALACTION Alfred H. Howe, New York, N.Y. j Application October 27, 1945, Serial No. 624,959

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in pianokeyboards and, more particularly, to means for improving the balance andguides of the keys and, to provide means for adjusting the keys inconjunction with the soft pedal action of the piano.

Conventional forms of keyboards were designedas a primitive expedientwhen keys were straight and needed little guidance, but the systempersisted when curved keys came into mode. Therefore, the wearingqualities of such keyboards are far from desirable and the resultingdepreciation of the action bafiles the musician in his performance.

Likewise, the type of soft pedal action, which functions by lifting thehammers nearer to the strings, leaves a space between the parts whichthe keys sometimes follow in various degrees and heretofore no provisionhas been made to improve this feature of the action.

It is, accordingly, the object of the present invention to provide anelement between the keyboard and action which avoids such objectionablestructural features and thus improve the results obtained during theplaying of the piano.

I call this element the mediator, because it performs a two-fold office,while filling the space between key and wippen, it changes the relativemotion between key and hammer travel, preserving the whole keydipproportionally in all degrees of hammer lifting.

A further object of the invention is to provide parts which may besubstituted in rebuilding keyboards, making them more durable andpleasing to play upon: Parts which are easy to manufacture.

Other objectsand advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the action of a grand piano partiallyin section illustrating the component parts in their'normal relation toeach other;

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the key balance on line 2--2 ofFigure 3;

Figure 3 shows a sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 shows an enlarged vertical section view of themediator.

In Figure 1 are shown the action of a grand piano showing the componentparts in normal relation to each other. Incorporated into the action ofthe piano isa device which I shall refer to as the mediator I 0. One ofthe principal functions of the mediator I is to transmit movement fromthe keys I I to the hammers I2 while at the same time maintaining aconstant key dip.

As shown in the drawing, the mediator It) is positioned between the keyH and the wipren I3. The mediator I0 itself, as illustrated in Fig. 4,consists of upper and lower elements 14 and I5 which are hinged to eachother on a pin I6 located at the front end. The front end of the upperelement M is equipped with a U-shaped member I! that straddles a centerflange I8 that is attached to the lowerelement I5 and projects upwardlyinto the U-shaped member H. A flange I9 is provided having one endpivotally connected to the pin, I6 andits opposite end adapted to besecured'to' the mediator rail 26. The upper and lower, elements I4 andI5 of the mediator ID are likewise 'pivotally mounted on the pin I6 towhich ,the flange I9 is attached, At the rear, the lower surface 2| ofthe upper element I4 and theiup'pefsurface 22 of the lower element aretapered inwardly forming a conical shaped openingxor cavity 23.Positioned centrally in the opening 23 is a center pin 24 having one endsecured to the flange I8 and its opposite end being equipped with aconical shaped nut 25. Extending from the top surface of the upperelement I4 around the front of the mediator it! through an opening 26 inthe flange I9 to the lower surface of the lower element I5 is a tensionspring 21 that tends to maintain the upper and lower elements I 4' andI5 in contact with each other. By adjusting the position of the nut onthe centervpin 24, it is possible to securea desired spacing between-theupper and lower elements and thereby furnishing an additional means foradjusting the action of the piano. At the rear portion of the mediatorI!) both the unper surface of the upper element I4 and the lower surfaceof the lower element I5 are equipped with arcuate shaped projections 28and 29 respectively. .5

As mounted in the action the flange mem er I9 is secured totheundersurface of the mediator rail 20 through screws or other similar mens. The mediator I0 is positioned between the kev I I and'the wippen I3so that the wiopen I 3 is 50 supported by the upper projection 28- andthe lower projection 29 rests on the inclined projection '30 that issecured to the upper surface of thekeyII. 9

The principal objective, of apianissimo device 5 is to soften the toneeffect Without changing the stroke of the key. Through the mediator Iwhich is always in contact with the Wippen l3 and key H the resistanceof the keys II to the touch of the pianist remain the same, whereas in aconventional piano action utilizing a capstan screw in place of themediator, there would be no resistance in the keys to the touch of thepianist on the first portion of the downward stroke when the soft pedalwas being utilized. However, by maintaining the mediator in constantcontact with the key and Wippen this disadvantage is overcome and aconstant resistance of the keys is obtained.

In Fig. 1 I show the conventional pitman 3| which is connected, to thesoft pedal which is not shown, in the normal manner so that whenpressure is applied to the pedal the pitman 3| raises the hammer rail 32causing the hammers l2 to move nearer the strings. However, in additionI have provided a crank arm 63 which is pivotally connected to the frameof the piano at point 33 and which has one leg pivotally attached to thepitinan 3| at point 34 and its other leg pivotally attached to aconnecting rod 35 at point 36. The connecting rod 35 is attached to themediator rail 20 which is mounted on the upper end of rod 31 that ispivotally connected at its lower end to the key frame 38 at point 39.Through this mechanism it can be seen that when the soft pedal isdepressed the hammer rail 32 will rise in the conventional manner tobring the hammers l2 nearer the strings and at the same time themediator rail 20 will be moved forward by the action of the crank arm 63and connecting rod 35. The path of the mediator rail 20 during thismovement will be slightly arcular due to the pivotal connectlon at thebottom of the rod 31. As the mediator rail 20 moves forward the mediatorl9 will be brought forward with the lower projection 29 on the mediatorriding up on the incline 3B of the key I I. This will result in theleverage between the key II and the action being altered as the lowerprojection 29 of the mediator will engage the key II at a point nearerthe key fulcrum or balance 40 while the upper projection 28 will engagethe wippen l3 at a point further from its fulcrum 38. This not onlytakes up the lost motion that would otherwise exist where theconventional capstan with a fixed position is utilized, but it lessensthe distance that the action and hammer will move on the stroke of thekey. It can readily be seen that the soft pedal may be depressed to anyposition which will result in a graduated change of relation between thekey dip and the hammer blow giving the pianist full control withoutchanging the resistance of the keys.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I have also provided an improved keybalance 40 which consists of a triangular piece of metal 4| having aball 42 on the apex or upper portion. The lower portion of thetriangular piece of metal 4| is equipped with a pin 43 that is securedto the key frame 38. The keys will be equipped with triangular shapedcavities 44 extending from the upper to the lower surface of the keyinto which the triangular piece of metal will extend. The upper openingof the cavity 44 is equipped with a wooden bushing 45 surrounding thesteel ball 42. Attached to the upper surface of the key will be a fiatplate or cleat 46 which will be secured to the keys H through screws 41.The center portion of the plate 46 will be equipped with a threadedaperture 4 48 into which a specially designed bolt 49 is adapted to fit.The lower surface of the bolt 49 will have a concave cavity or socket 50adapted to conform to the shape of the ball 42. The lower portion of theplate 4| is equipped with a felt bushing 5| to take up any wear that thetriangular plate might cause when in contact with the key. In operation,the key H may be placed over the triangular plate so that the plateenters the cavity, and the ball 42 engages the lower concave surface 50of the bolt 49. Normally a thin felt disc 52 will be placed between theball and the concave surface of the bolt. It can be seen that the weightof the key II will be supported by the round surface of the ball 42thereby furnishing an improved balance over the conventional balancerail pin now in use. As additional means for maintaining the key I l inposition, the front portions of the keys will be provided with key guidepins 53 which will engage in slots 54 of the body of the key. Not onlywill this balance result in a new and improved key balance, but it willalso simplify the leveling of the keys which heretofore has been aninvolved and tedious operation. Instead of it being necessary to removethe keys and place the required number of felt washers underneath thekeys as when the conventional guide pin is being utilized, it is nowmerely necessary to adjust the bolt 49 in order to raise or lower thekey to obtain the desired position.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to apresent preferred form which it may assume, it is not to be limited tosuch details and form since many changes and modifications may be madein the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention in its broadest aspects. Hence, it is desired to cover any andall forms and modifications of the invention which may come within thelanguage or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a piano action having a wippen, a hammer and a key, a mediatorpositioned between the key and the wippen for transmitting a graduatedmovement from the key to the hammer, said mediator including upper andlower elements pivotally connected to each other, arcuate projections onsaid upper and lower elements adapted to slidably contact the wippen andkey respectively, a rail, and a connecting arm, and a rod having itslower end pivotally secured to the key frame and its upper endsupporting said rail, one end of said mediator being pivotally attachedto said rail, and said arm having one end connected to the rail and itsopposite end connected to the soft pedal through a linkage, wherebygradual depressing of the soft pedal causes the mediator to move forwardthereby shortening the leverage between the key and the mediator whilesimultaneously lengthening the leverage between the mediator and thewippen.

2. In a piano action as set forth in claim 1 in which the upper surfaceof the key has an inclined member on which the arcuate projection of thelower element rests.

3. In a piano action as set forth in claim 1 in which the upper andlower elements have diverging tapered surfaces forming a. conical shapedcavity, a threaded pin centrally positioned in said cavity and a conicalshaped nut threaded on to said pin whereby varying the position of thenut alters the degree of separation of the elements.

4. In a piano action as set forth in claim 1 in which a spring yieldablyurges said upper and lower elements toward each other.

5. For cooperation with a wippen and a key of a piano action, apianissimo device comprising pivotally connected upper and lowerelements having rounded portions for slidably contacting the wippen andkey respectively, resilient means constantly urging said elementstowards each other, and means for adjusting said elements toward or awayfrom each other about their pivotal connection, subject to the action ofsaid resilient means, for the purpose of changing the leverage points ofthe wippen and key with respect to each other.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5, wherein said adjusting meansis arranged between said elements and comprises a screw threaded memberhaving one end secured to one of the elements, and a conical nut inthreaded engagement with the other end of said member and contactingcorresponding surfaces of said elements.

ALFRED H. HOWE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 647,289 Blondel Apr. 10, 1900922,828 Wheeler May 25, 1909 1,289,449 Hussey Dec. 31, 1918 1,403,401George Jan. 10, 1922 1,435,442 Abendschein Nov. 14, 1922 1,826,848Victor Oct. 13, 1931

